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UNPUBLISHED QUOTES FROM LEE MARVIN POINT BLANK

Only son and eldest child, Christopher Marvin: He had an effect with a lot of things, like the way he held a glass. He always had that and you see all those people doing that stuff now. He had that kind of trademark in the movies… But he was a real tender gentleman, too. He and I had some real delicate time as well; soul-searching stuff, working together with my father, which I really admire. I appreciated it. I don’t think very many people really have that.

L.A. Times film critic Charles Champlin: Marvin was an interesting man. In some ways, a tragic figure. You always had the feeling about Lee Marvin that there was more work that should have been done…Cat Ballou of course was just a classic piece of film acting and film making, really…. I also have one of those memories of Lee Marvin explaining in Stanley Kramer’s Ship of Fools how he never made it in baseball because he couldn’t hit a curve. That’s my memory…

Cult film director (Two-Lane Blacktop [1971]) Monte Hellman & uncredited director of Avalanche Express (Point Blank, pp. 213-214): He was a very conscientious actor. He was fun to work with. I think of him as a movie star and he had tremendous ease with what he did. He was just really easy and fun to work with. I admired him a lot. I really loved watching him.

Cult director Sam Fuller: He was a no-bullshit guy. Behind his rough-tough guy appearance was a soul as sensitive as the one of a poet. I really regret not having done more films with him. A real pro. Never got in your way. Enhanced every shot with his incredible physique and talent. We never had one mean word or bad feeling between us…. I feel privileged to have worked with him and to have known him.

Director Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter), The Chronicles of Narnia) and Gorky Park: He was a real joy. He’s one of my best memories of working with actors in my whole career. Anything I think I could add to increasing his esteem in the world of film acting, I would love to do because I think he was a terrific actor…This generation, probably never heard of him. It’s frightening. I loved Point Blank. I always liked watching him. I thought that was a terrific piece of work…. I always liked him from the very beginning.